TEHRAN -- Iran’s southeastern seaport of Chabahar is a popular tourist destination renowned for its cliff-lined beaches and rugged, treeless peaks known locally as “Martian mountains.” Soon the region will have more than just a poetic connection to outer space, Bloomberg reported. 
For years, construction has been underway to transform the sun-drenched coastal town into an economic hub, including a spaceport that’s set to open this year. The plan is to build the equivalent of Florida’s Cape Canaveral to anchor the Islamic Republic’s space ambitions.
It’s a program that President Donald Trump has tried to stop because the U.S. sees the technologies for space launches and ballistic missiles as virtually identical. During his first term, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Iran’s space agency, but that hasn’t prevented Iran from building one of the most advanced programs in the Middle East — with the Iranian Space Agency and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps both sending rockets and satellites to orbit.
New projects include a network of 20 internet satellites named for Qassem Soleimani, the general assassinated in a Trump-ordered airstrike in 2020.
Official figures for the total cost of Iran’s space program so far aren’t available. With the economy squeezed by U.S. sanctions, the government has continued to support its space program, albeit on tight budgets: Last November, a senior Iranian official said the space agency would receive around $11 million of financing to boost the sector.
It’s also gained from Iran’s stronger relationship with Russia in recent years. In January, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a strategic partnership agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Last year, a Russian rocket launched the first two privately-developed Iranian satellites to orbit.  
“What Russia definitely has is the expertise,” said Juliana Suess, researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “That’s something that Iran is after.”
Iran’s ability to launch more satellites could enable it to use spacecraft to better guide offensive weapons. Iranians “can become much more precise in their targeting and have quicker reaction times to launch their own ballistic missile forces to hit targets much more precisely,” said John Sheldon, Abu Dhabi-based founding partner at AstroAnalytica, a space consulting firm.
The West is increasingly concerned about Iran’s advances. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government sanctioned Brigadier General Ali Jafarabadi, head of the Space Division of the Islamic Revolutions Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force, last September and the Iranian Space Agency in October.
The EU also sanctioned Jafarabadi in October, saying his division was “involved in the development and future launch of satellite carriers, which are essential for the development of long-range ballistic missile systems.”
In February, Pezeshkian referred o Iran’s space program as a driving force behind its missile development.
“Our enemies constantly try to prevent us from standing on our own feet, but this has driven us to achieve scientific and technological advancements,” he said.
Progress in space may offer Tehran an opportunity to assert resilience and strength. “They see space technology and aeronautical technology as a place to do it,” said Matthew Schmidt, associate professor of national security and political science at the University of New Haven.
Much depends on the success of Chabahar, a project that was meant to be ready by 2024. The opening is now set for this year, space agency chief Hassan Salarieh said in January. 
When it’s finally finished, Chabahar will be a 14,000-hectare (54-square-mile) complex that will serve as Iran’s primary hub for space missions, he said.
Chabahar is critical to the Iranian government’s strategy, since the facility should increase the ability to launch more powerful spacecraft. Chabahar is also closer to the equator than Iran’s other launch sites, allowing rockets to take better advantage of the Earth’s spin compared to more northerly sites.
 Iran’s neighbors are promoting pan-Arab partnership, with 14 countries taking part in the Arab Space Cooperation Group, said Mohamed Ibrahim Al Aseeri, CEO of Bahrain’s space agency.
Officials in Tehran say having a space program is about securing the same access to advanced technology that’s available to the West, rather than building a long-range missile threat to the U.S.
Sina Azodi, adjunct professor of international affairs at George Washington University, said it’s highly unlikely that Iran will use its space program to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“The accusation against Iran is that its space program is used to cover the pursuit of intercontinental ballistic missiles, but without nuclear warheads, it doesn’t make sense,” said Azodi. “What are you going to do with that ICBM? Set up a conventional warhead to attack the U.S.? Iran won’t do that.”
Much like its nuclear program, Iran sees space technology as something that can give it stature in the region and the wider world, beyond developing its military capabilities.
“Prestige is a major driver of these programs for Iran,” Dina Esfandiary, Middle East Geoeconomics analyst at Bloomberg Economics said.
Salarieh is already talking about even more ambitious projects such as advanced capsules capable of sending humans to space.